Utilizing Motion Zones with your Ring Video Doorbell Elite

Question: What are motion zones and how can I use them to enhance my Ring Doorbell Elite's motion detection capabilities?

Answer: Motion Zones allow you to define a specific area that you want your Ring to cover while ignoring everything outside that area. By drawing your motion zones to exclude frequently accessed areas such as public paths and roads, you can reduce the number of "false positive" motion alerts (such as cars driving by) and greatly increase the effectiveness of your Ring.

This article will help you set up your motion zones and give you some tips in making them more effective.

Go to your Device Settings in the Ring app, and select the Motion Settings icon to customize your Motion Zones.

Tap the "Add a Motion Zone" button, and you’ll see a colored box appear. Follow the on-screen directions, and drag the points of the colored box to expand or contract the area you want to monitor.

Once your Motion Zone is in place, make sure the box labeled "Active" is checked to ensure your motion sensors are activated. If you’re happy with the placement, press “Save.”

If you want to customize the name of your Motion Zone, simply tap the white box that displays the default name (either “Zone 1,” “Zone 2” or “Zone 3”), and enter the new name in its place. Press “Save,” and you’re good to go. Repeat this process to create up to three customizable Motion Zones.

Pro Tips: Making the Most of your Motion Settings

Redraw your Motion Zones: When creating your motion zones, note the potential paths people take to approach and redraw your motion zones to exclude areas where you very rarely see people such as behind locked gates, hedges, or walls

Be sure to have at least one active motion zone: If a Motion Zone is not triggering alerts, it may be inactive. An inactive zone will have no “X” in the box labeled “Active,” and the Motion Zone will be grayed out. You must create at least one active motion zone or you will not receive any motion alerts.

Get familiar with the Motion Settings control in your Ring App: In addition to the motion zones control, there are two other tools there that can help you adjust the number of motion alerts you receive:

Motion Scheduling: The motion scheduling control will allow you to schedule brief interruptions in coverage to avoid receiving alerts triggered by a regular occurrence. For example, if you know your garbage always gets picked up between 7:30 and 7:45AM on Tuesdays, you can schedule your motion detection to turn off during that time.

Motion Sensitivity Slider: This slider will help you fine tune what the Ring looks for to trigger a motion event. The slider ranges from “People Only” to “All Activity.”The People Only option configures the motion sensors to only look for human shapes, while All Activity is a great solution for the anyone looking to capture as much as possible.

Optimizing motion detection: Motion detection can sometimes trigger false alerts because of moving trees, lightning, the rising or setting sun, reflections off a shiny object, headlights or shadows.To reduce the number of false alerts, you need to look at your motion zone the way your Ring does. That might mean removing shiny objects, cutting back certain tree branches that create moving shadows on the ground or even angling the Ring itself to avoid the sun. You can also change the slider to "People Only" to try and minimize the number of false alerts,